Speeches by Nandy.

“That is really helpful. I absolutely take your point about language. The other thing we have been looking at is around investment in film infrastructure, and particularly around cinemas, which are often the only cultural institution in many parts of the country. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh, Jo Platt…”

“Before the general election and before I was in post—I did not shadow this brief in opposition—the Prime Minister ruled out implementing Leveson 2 in full. We believe that the situation has changed quite significantly since Lord Leveson produced the second part of his report, and we share the view of the last Governmen…”

“Absolutely.”

“We take this incredibly seriously, but it is one of the areas that we obviously have to take great care with because of the implications of making that shift. We have been working very closely with Ofcom, which has been looking into the issue and is due to produce a report.”

“We’d better go back and get on with it then.”

“I will give you a general sense of how we are approaching this and if you then have any specific follow-ups, please press me. The first thing we have done is take a place-based approach to the way that we work in the Department. We have developed a place-based tool that enables us to zoom in to every part of the countr…”

“We are certainly going to start the charter review process before the end of this year. We are hoping to be in a position to do it in the autumn, and I probably should not be drawn any more than that.”

“I have previously said that if we have to act to put this on a statutory footing, we will, but we would of course prefer that the industry gets there itself. The 50% target remains. I have already had a conversation with the new Minister for music, Ian Murray, who is very committed to this, and we will continue to take…”

“I do not think he would have ever intended to mislead the Committee.”

“You will all know that things in Government sometimes take a frustratingly long time. The charter review has to be concluded by the end of 2027 and we are very keen to ensure there is sufficient time for Parliament, the public and broadcast media to be part of a proper conversation around that. I have said before that …”

“Yes, of course, and I am very confident that, as with the previous Foreign Secretary, there will be a very strong recognition of the role that the BBC World Service plays around the world, particularly in relation to an environment in which other foreign states are investing heavily in their own state broadcasters and …”

“There is. Obviously, some of our public service broadcasters have had some very challenging circumstances recently, so we have been looking at the immediate issues in front of us. At Channel 4 there is a very important role for the new chair and chief executive when they are appointed, to deal with some issues they hav…”

“I cannot today, Paul, but I have heard your point loud and clear and we are doing everything we can. We will redouble our efforts to make sure that we do this quickly, but we do it right.”

“I have discussed this extensively with the director general and with the chair. We are keen to ensure that the BBC is able to maximise the amount of commercial revenue it receives. But I have to be honest with the Committee: the scope for that will never match the funding needs that the BBC has and there will always be…”

“I was. As you all know, it was a difficult spending review. We inherited a difficult financial environment, and our sectors are often vulnerable in that sort of situation. I was really pleased that we were able to come out roughly flat in terms of our spending settlement—around £9 billion over the spending review perio…”

“First, I thank you and the Chair for your kind words about Minister Bryant. He is currently settling into his new role at the Department for Business and Trade. Can I also put on the record my absolute agreement about the need for therapy after so many of those terrible puns? As a Government, we see film as one of the …”

“It absolutely is. Without undermining the incredible work that Minister Bryant did, that was my request as the Secretary of State. As you would imagine with Minister Bryant, the 10-point plan for music then became a 110-point plan for music, but we are working at pace to make sure we are in a position to announce somet…”

“Yes. The financial situation facing the country is still very challenging and we are going to have to make trade-offs and choices. At the moment, we are looking at that through business planning and I have met with several members of the Committee and heard representations from many parliamentarians about their priorit…”

“Yes.”

“I have had particular concerns raised with me by parliamentarians about the appearance of Nigel Farage presenting news programmes on GB News. That is a fair criticism from Members of Parliament of all political parties, because the public have a right to know if what they are seeing is news and is impartial or not. One…”